93 trains to run slower in Melbourne under Metro timetable re-jig

Melbourne trains ordered to slow down

Commuters trying to get home on the Glen Waverley line on Friday afternoon are expected to be hit with lengthy delays. Credit: File image: AAP

A total of 93 trains will soon be running slower despite billions of dollars spent upgrading the lines.

A rejigged timetable will be in force next month with the slower trains, but the state government won't yet say which services will be affected.

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The full details will be released Friday but the state government on Wednesday confirmed 93 services will be slower.

Most will be between one and three minutes but two will be up to five minutes slower.

Only 15 trains will be faster.

Victoria's Public Transport Minister Melissa Horne insists the changes, designed to more accurately reflect travel times, are "good news" for commuters.

Melissa Horne says a rejigged schedule in which some trains run slower, is good for Vic commuters. Credit: AAP

But her Liberal shadow says the slower trains are a "disaster", given the billions spent removing level crossings to speed up train lines.

Public Transport Victoria has revamped the timetable after analysing how long it had been taking people across the network to get on and off the train.

Some services will run up to two minutes faster under the new schedule, which will come into force at the start of December.

Others will run up to three minutes slower, according to PTV's modelling.

The bulk of the changes have been made for the increasingly busy Cranbourne and Pakenham lines, with minor adjustments elsewhere.

The move would mean eastbound trains on the Glen Waverley, Alamein, Belgrave and Lilydale line would skip Richmond station. Credit: AAP

PTV boss Jeroen Weimar stressed the state's rail network is carrying far more people now than it was a decade ago.

"What we're now doing is ensuring where we can have improved efficiency, we're building it into our timetable," he told reporters in Melbourne.

"But where there is additional time needed for people to get on and off trains, we're also building that time into our current timetable."

Ms Horne said the changes are "good news" as commuters will be able to plan their journeys more accurately.

Full timetable coming soon

Neither Mr Weimar or Ms Horne would not say which services would be slower or faster.

Victorians have instead been told to check the timetable when it is made public on Friday to see how their regular routes may be affected.

State coalition transport spokesman David Davis said the slower trains on the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines are a "disaster", given the government has spent more than $2 billion on improving them, including removing level crossings.

"The solution is to run the system properly. It is not to make trains take longer, it is not to slow down the trains," he told reporters.

Trains will also begin arriving at the city's Southern Cross Station about an hour earlier on Sundays, to help people using several lines move more easily between the night network and standard trains.

Passengers on the Geelong line will have an extra Saturday morning service, with an existing Warrnambool service running express from Geelong to Footscray to free up room for it.